Bonberriehttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie
Official Web of Barnali BasuThu, 31 May 2012 04:34:03 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1Pike will be Pikehttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=145
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=145#commentsThu, 31 May 2012 04:00:16 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=145At last, the long pending eulogy to my favorite market for the past (nearly) half decade. Before I saw Pike Place Market , I never imagined there could be a marketplace of its kind. For anybody grown up in urban India, a marketplace is another name for mayhem. Not that Pike Place is a noiseless spot for meditation though ! Pike has its rightful share of a typical market-like commotion, made frivolous with a water-front view and lots of fresh air. When I walked into this place for the first time, the suspicious market-phobic in me was reluctant to affiliate Pike to anything fun. And then, as I emerged two hours later, I was in love with it.

The fresh produce stalls were such a welcome break to those eyes; sore from seeing the picture-perfect supermarket fruit aisles. The handmade pickled items and jams would anyday outsmart their factory-made cousins. The prize goes to seafood though. Such breathtaking varieties of wild caught fish, delivered just the way you would want. Growing up in another port city , fish has been such a way of life. I was thrilled to discover a real ‘fish-market’ , where happy fishmongers sing loud while they fillet, clean or steak your fish. An added advantage, they wear aprons and gloves ! Over the years , Pike place has become pricier in order to sell sustainable Seafood . A true gastronomic would not mind paying the difference in cost, because it’s so many more times better than farm raised mercury-laden seafood imported from foreign countries.

Did I mention the music? Pike is not quite Pike without those crazy guitarists and vocalists shaking their heads away at their own melody.

Hard to find such a lively place packed with energy. When I move away from Seattle , this will be missed the most .

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=1451The icing on the cake called global-warminghttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=138
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=138#commentsFri, 27 Apr 2012 20:28:27 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=138Do we need all that ice? Do we actually, truly need it?

A typical sound at any fast food eatery: the ice maker at work. People filling almost half their drink cups with those ice cubes. Thoughtlessly, mindlessly, needlessly. It has been that way , as if there is no other way to down those gallons of sodas. Why drink those ‘good-for nothing’ sodas in the first place? Well, thats beyond the scope of this post. Lets stick to ice.

I will not delve deep into too many figures about consumption of ice per day, the energy used (read wasted) in the process and so on. Rather ,would share a very informative article on the same, though, it reflects facts of the United States alone. Sadly enough, It is not limited to fast food chains. Wastage of ice is equally rampant at other restaurants, airplanes, parties ,offices and every where else, even at the regular households. I know many genuine earth-friendly people, who swear by ‘green’ products and lifestyle, but still let pints of ice go down their drains everyday.

All we need is awareness. The ability to relate everything to every other thing in life. At this juncture, where all of us are periled by scarcity of fuel, let us try our best to save some. If we all abandon ice on our drinks (most often it is few ounces of drink on a mountain of ice), we will not only save a whopping amount of fuel, but also a whole bunch of other related stuff; water, health, money. If we all shun ice on drinks, our children will do the same and we will have a new generation of responsible and thoughtful people.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=1381The Soothing Scratch of Puliogarehttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=132
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=132#commentsTue, 13 Mar 2012 20:56:07 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=132Eating local is no new concept. How local could one get?

I can hardly wait to share my experience about making something in my kitchen this morning. Something, which had a granted existence in its purple packets , on the ‘readymade powder and pastes’ aisles at Indian grocery stores. Little did I imagine that it could be whipped up in my own kitchen , and produce an equally delicious, yet much fresher end product.

While the aroma of the spices still lingers , let me reveal this morning’s culinary adventure. Every human hailing from southern India must have savored this cunningly delectable ,spicy and tangy Puliogare. It is an old delicacy , though it became all the more popular after it was introduced as a ‘ready-to-eat’ paste by a leading food enterprise in Bangalore, India. The paste turned out to be a huge success with countless single working people who neither had time nor motivation to cook for themselves. I was one of them. And today, I created magic in my kitchen. Looking up my favorite South-Indian recipe blog, I actually cooked Puliogare from scratch. My toddler helped me measure out all the spices. Coriander, mustard, sesame, curry leaves, red peppers,fenugreek, cloves, asafoetida, peanuts and split grams. All roasted and ground and fried in sharp flavored sesame oil, mixed with fresh tamarind paste and cooked in sesame oil with mustard seeds, curry leaves and peanuts as seasonings. As simple as this, as pleasant, as crisp.

This ‘make from scratch ‘ mission of mine is not sudden. It has evolved in the last half decade. That ‘heat and eat’ spinster has certainly grown into an informed mom, who cares about every ingredient that goes into her child’s food. The scope of ‘comfort food’ is expanding, if not changing, with more people experiencing actual comfort in self-cooked food, cooked with more natural ingredients and less of processed ones. My body will thank me one day for adopting the scratch method, and so will my child.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=1322Potato: Insulted and Humiliatedhttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=118
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=118#commentsThu, 08 Mar 2012 21:13:07 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=118Vitamin C and potato? Is it the hallucination of a couch-potato? Nay nay. Just back from a power-packed lunch and decided to pay a long-pending tribute to this universally loved (yet ill-reputed) vegetable.

Potato, it is. It’s time it got justice . Its been wronged for too long a time. Its been blamed for weight gains, high blood sugars, joint aches and so on. On the contrary, it’s therapeutic for certain conditions as serious as high blood pressure. It wont be an overstatement to call it ‘the mineral produce’; loaded with potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese etc. It is the high potassium-content which makes it a cheap remedy for people with wavering blood pressure. With a caveat, however. Eat it baked ,skin on. While Calcium and Iron take away all the limelight, Potassium is an often overlooked nutrient. Yet it is immensely important for our nerve and muscle functions. Want another great reason to be-friend potatoes? The yukon gold potatoes or any variety with yellow flesh helps quieten your inflammations which might otherwise secretly lead your body to bigger diseases. And yes, a medium potato of any variety does have more than a quarter Vitamin C required daily.

The potato has got its bad name from the age-old consumption practices. The long, thin-cut potato batons fried in ultra-hot oil ( read tons of trans-fat) otherwise known as ‘fries’ , is an assault of the good old potato. The starch in it when deep fried, release cancer-producing chemicals. The mashed version, with scoops of butter also makes it a no-good health food. Many of us grew up eating peeled and cubed (then cooked) potatoes, which have hardly any value left in them.

Handle your potato well, and it will take care of your health. Feel free to pick any of those potato recipes on the web or your favorite cookbook, just make sure you follow the simple processing steps:
Wash them real well, bake or boil with skin , and then cut/peel/season/spice as called for in the recipe. Its best to eat the skin too, because most of its mineral treasures are right below the skin. Try not to cut a potato before you boil or bake it, because it slashes down a lot of its potassium, unless of course, you have kidney disease and have been instructed to minimize your Potassium intake.

Time to capsulize? This delicious kitchen staple deserves more accolade than it has in our regular diet. The key as always, is moderation and optimal preparation.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=11827You are the master of your brainhttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=95
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=95#commentsTue, 12 Jul 2011 18:09:52 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=95Nothing is impossible. The book I am reading right now;” The Brain that Changes Itself” is surely life-changing .Each chapter describes the power of the brain as experienced by people of different walks of life . I am astounded all over again by the possibilities of this 3 lb mass sitting inside our skull. Its been a decade since scientists have found out that the brain is not ‘set in stone’ after all. And much more. Nothing is as ‘hardwired’ as it was thought to be.

Just the will to do it goes a long way in achieving almost anything under the sun (maybe beyond too !) Look up ‘ Barbara Arrowsmith Young ‘ if you dont know already who she is. To be concise, she has lived all her childhood and early youth with severe learning disabilty . She could not distinguish between ‘son’s father’ and ‘father’s son’. Today, she is the founder of a leading school chain which treats children and adults with cognitive impairments. Her path connecting her past and present is an overwhelming story of determination, will and of course, magic of the brain.

Lets put it simply,sans the neuroscientific jargon. There is nothing ‘fixed’ in this organ. It is ‘plastic’. It can change the way we want it to. Each action or task or thought is processed by the brain in different areas. In other words, each brain area represents all our actions and thinking processes. For eg, when we are on a task involving memory, the hippocampus gets to work. The brain follows the elementary rule of ‘use it or lose it’, which in essence is, the brain areas used most get stronger and those rarely used get weaker. If a pianist decides to forgo his art, his brain area responsible for those music and fine motor skills might even shrink in course of time. On the contrary, If someone decides to make piano his living, the practice and the effort makes the causative brain areas to get stronger by the day making him/her a better pianist in due time.

Most limitations of mind and psyche can be overcome, according to neuroscientists of this era. “You can be what you want to be” is not just a saying any more. If someone wishes to improve on basic skills like reading, writing, speaking or memorizing, one can work with a neuro-therapist to identify the brain ‘exercises’ he would need. Its just like working on toning specific muscles in a gym.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=95227Water these downhttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=72
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=72#commentsWed, 23 Mar 2011 18:02:03 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=72Yesterday it was the World Water Day. The doctor in me stirs today . Need to let my friends know, what water can do for you. To keep it simple, Drink water when you :

Wake up

every hour since you wake up

when you feel tired

when you are thirsty

Use water as a medicine when :

Constipation gets better out of you

Annual exams at the doctor’s office shows up high (bad) cholesterol

Headaches wont let you move through the day

Your stomach hurts

You could use a clearer mind to think

Consider this cure-all drink (water) if you want to prevent

Urinary troubles

Early wrinkles

Dry and itchy skin (it is more bothersome than you think)

Muscle cramps and fatigue

Just keep drinking water for an over-all good health. Please do.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=7212Austin Economicshttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=65
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=65#commentsWed, 05 May 2010 04:39:48 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=65Are you a prospective property buyer in Austin in the near future? You might be paying the highest property tax the city could opt for. Well, not as bad as it sounds though. The city is trying hard to strike a financial balance after the recent economic catastrophe in the US. In fact it is faring better than most cities. The budget staffers have declared a possible deficit which could range from $11 million to $ 28 million, depending on how much property tax the city has to impose and other budget/service cuts. The strategies are all about how to implement “doing more with less” and advance the service delivery simultaneously.

You must have noticed that situations have taken a brighter hue than last spring. Though things were blue, Austin did not face any massive layoffs and major service cuts, unlike most of the ‘big cities’ in the nation. Last year the city helped overcome $30 million shortfall by doing away with 100 vacant positions; that’s way better than 100 job terminations. Employees’ salary raise has been pending and the city leaders feel it is time for an upgrade for the loyal workers who waived their pay hikes to preserve the city’s money. The mayor also hopes to enforce ‘lesser then the highest’ property tax. He is also optimistic that the budget might look more encouraging than it does now. The tourism and housing industry and general job market are already doing better.

You and I could wonder as to what happens to the city’s basic services? The budget predicts that most services would remain unimpaired. However some costs look unlikely to be fended-off, like new police officers to meet the surge in population, health insurances, needs for more recreation centers and paramedic units, pension funds etc. Last year, most public services were maintained inspite of the money shortage, especially library hours, police cadets and youth programs. A very intelligent measure was turning city municipal pools into splash parks, which slashed the maintenance cost efficiently.

The focus of Austin government and people is to keep aside the ‘wants’ for a sunnier day and concentrate more on the ‘needs’. Stay tuned for a budget and tax-rate proposal in July. Also, you could make your opinion heard at public inputs and hearings.

]]>http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?feed=rss2&p=65349Awesome Austin!!http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=24
http://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=24#commentsSun, 28 Feb 2010 07:36:15 +0000barnalihttp://techpsyche.com/bonberrie/?p=24The city that never stops singing. The city that keeps biking, hiking, canoeing and kayaking. The city where the aromas of barbeque fill the air in summer. The city with sunshine almost everyday. Am I talking about some picnic haven? Well, we could give it a name. Austin, that is.

It is just the perfect place for people who love to live life the easy way. There is hardly anything serious or hard or gloomy about the life in Austin. Health, joy and goodwill seem to overflow everywhere. Live music is so common; it’s almost a way of life. Not many towns in the United States have such a musical history. The number of live bands performing anytime is overwhelming, enough for a visitor to be dazzled on his/her first visit and wanting to be coming back for more. It’s genuinely the ‘live music capital of the world’, and music seems to flow in the daily life of the dwellers, be it old settlers or new arrivers. No wonder the city houses a great number of healthiest people in the country!

I have a dozen friends living in the city for quite some time. Apart from their work and sleep, they always seem to be hanging out, either running or biking or kayaking in the Zilker Park Lake. It’s a blessing to be able to be in a city with so many fun options for outdoor activities, especially for people who find gyms and spas to be mere confinements devoid of excitement.

Coming to gastronomy, southern food is a signature of Austin. Not to mention the barbeque culture, people find their olfactory and gustatory ‘nirvana’ in them. Barbeque is not just an important business in the city; it’s a ‘frame of mind’. Barbeque and country music have such inseparable cultural ties, the savory wood smoke on tender meat and music make such a well aligned platter.

I strongly believe the city’s high ‘sun’ quotient works like magic for its throbbing lively beat. If one doesn’t mind the sweat and heat of summer, there is so much pleasure and relish about the city. It may not be a top-ranker among the tourist destinations or it may not be the foremost industrial and financial seat, but people certainly have time to smell the roses.